Nuriko's First Love?
by Cosmos Crystal
Summary: After wishing to see Miaka, Nuriko is transported into her world. What (or who) will he find there?


It was a few months since the tragic events that took place after Miaka and Taka's marriage, maybe a week or so in their world. All had returned to a fairly peaceful state in both worlds, and it looked like things could finally settle down for everyone. Although many changes had taken place in the ten years the four Seishi had died and come back again, they were beginning to become accustomed to their new lives. Hotohori had once again taken over his empire, training his son closely for the day when he would once again rule. Chiriko lived with the family he had been reborn in, and spent his days reading to his heart's content. Mitsukake met a nice girl and married her, and his heart was no longer broken. Nuriko had taken to traveling with Tasuki and Chichiri. Everyone was happy... well, everyone except for a particular person.   
  
"Oh, my hair!! What was I thinking?! Do you guys really just travel around like this? When is something exciting gonna happen?"  
  
Tasuki sneered. "Oh, so you want exciting, eh?"  
  
He lunged at Nuriko and started to strangle him, but soon discovered that attacking a person as strong as him is a stupid thing to do as he found himself crashing into a tree and sliding slowly down it. Chichiri, who was drinking water from a nearby stream, looked up and sweatdropped and Nuriko stuck his nose in the air and rubbed his palms together, satisfied.  
  
Nuriko paused to look at his reflection in the water. He didn't really mind the haircut... but a part of him felt lost, unsure of what to do with himself. He thought often about visiting his brother, but knew that he couldn't. He knew that Rokou had finally gotten over his death, and returning would just confuse his brother even more. No matter how much he missed him...  
  
Another thing had been bothering him lately. In his whole life there was one girl he had ever loved besides his sister, and now she was gone. He knew that he could never love her or provide for her in the way that Taka did, but he still missed Miaka like nothing else. She had come there mysteriously, and now there was no longer a portal from Miaka's world. She would never come visit again... she would go on with her life, and Nuriko would grow old and die before she even reached fifty. When he closed his eyes he could see her smile, her laugh, and he ached to see it just one more time.  
  
Suddenly a red light filled the clearing. Tasuki scrambled to his feet and took out his fan readily. Chichiri stepped back and gasped... the light was surrounding Nuriko. He stood up and his form grew translucent... then disappeared. In a flash the light was gone, and Chichiri and Tasuki were left alone in the clearing, wondering what in the world had happened.  
  
In a sudden flash of light, everything disappeared. Nuriko had no time to react, he just stared in awe around him as the light retracted and he found himself outside once again... but a different sort of outside. The material beneath his feet was some sort of stone, and all around him all sorts of people wearing strange clothes walked, talked, or sat down on strangely carved benches. He turned to see a fountain behind him, lined with the same type of stone that he stood on. There was a random tree here and there all around him, but he could tell he was no longer in the forest.   
  
He noticed that the people had stopped walking, and talking... and doing anything... and were now staring at him, and whispering to each other. He gulped. A circle of people formed around him, and he glanced around him for a means of escape... but not finding any, he decided to let the enemy make the first move. He shifted into a battle stance, and his bracelets appeared on his wrists. The crowd gasped.   
  
Then, out of nowhere, a man holding a strange contraption burst out of the crowd. The item flashed a mysterious light, and Nuriko shielded his eyes in shock. "What the..." is all he had time to say before...  
  
"Who are you? How did you come here? What kind of clothes are those? Is it true you appeared out of a flash of light?" Another man had appeared, and was throwing all of these questions at him so suddenly he didn't know how to respond. He blinked, still trying to get his vision back after that blinding flash.  
  
When he could once again see, he looked closer at the item and realized he had seen it somewhere before. It was something used by... Miaka! Did this mean... he was in Miaka's world?  
  
The crowd broke once again to reveal a girl, maybe a couple years younger than he. She wore strange clothes that reminded him of something... but he wasn't sure. She wore two chin-length pigtails, wavy and with a dirty blonde sort of color. Her eyes glowed a raging green as she marched up to the man with the machine and took it out of his hands. He stared at her in shock.  
  
"Listen, he's with me," she put her hand on Nuriko's shoulder and he shifted uncomfortably under her weight. She smiled at them, threw the camera on the ground, and grabbed Nuriko by the arm, dragging him out of the circle and down a stone road and into a grove of trees.  
  
When they had hidden behind a tree, she let go of him and he backed away warily. This girl... she didn't look too dangerous, but he had learned never to underestimate the enemy. Her hand shot out.  
  
"I'm Yanagimoto Kazuko. Nice to meet you!" She smiled.  
  
He sweatdropped. She held out her hand a little while longer, then took it away and looked up at him. "How rude! After I saved you from those guys too! Are you a foreigner?"  
  
Nuriko didn't know how to answer. He knew now... the clothes she wore... they were similar to those of Miaka's. He had definetly been taken to her world. Now all he had to do was find her.  
  
"Thank you for saving me. I have to go now, I have someone I have to find," he started to walk away when he felt a tug on his sleeve.   
  
"Are you sure about that? Once you leave here everyone's gonna see you in those strange clothes, and then you'll be attacked again. Here, my house is on the other side of this grove, I can lend you some of my older brother's clothes. He's away at college right now, so he shouldn't mind. Come on," she tugged him in the opposite direction.  
  
"And just WHAT is wrong with my clothes?! I think they're much more beautiful than yours!"  
  
"Yeah yeah come on..."  
  
He frowned. What was it with girls from this world? He followed her... not because he wanted to, but because he knew that she was right. He couldn't go out there without making a scene, and that would be counterproductive.   
  
They broke through the trees and came to a large dwelling that seemed to be built with a strange material. He gasped. "Is this... where you live?"  
  
"Of course it is! What were you expecting?" She replied. "I know its not that nice but after what I did for you..."  
  
"It's amazing."  
  
  
  
"I'm home," Taka called as he entered his apartment. He took off his shoes and came into the kitchen, where he found...  
  
"Hey! What're you doing?"  
  
The fridge was almost completely cleaned out, and laying on the floor contentedly was a half-conscious Miaka with a contented grin on her face. "Aah..." she muttered. "Haven't eaten like that in..."  
  
Taka didn't know whether to help his wife off the floor or kill her. "You know... I go out and earn money all day, and you just ate all our food! How do you think we're supposed to pay for this?"  
  
She snapped out of it and looked up, still smiling. "Oh! Welcome home Taka!"  
  
He glared down at her. She curled up into a corner.  
  
"I'm sorry... it's just that... you know, I have to feed two people now, and I get even hungrier." She patted her slowly-growing stomach.  
  
Taka suddenly had a vision of a small Miaka running around the house, both her and her larger version chomping happily on large piles of food. He cringed.   
  
She stood up and started to walk off. "Well, I'm not hungry anymore... why don't you find your own dinner."  
  
He stared at the open refrigerator, practically empty, and sweatdropped.  
  
Miaka situated herself on the sofa and turned on the TV. A news announcer came on, reporting from a crowd of people in a park.  
  
"It seems a strange person has appeared in Shibuya Park, and nobody knows where he came from. Witnesses say they saw a bright red light before they saw him, and he seems to be refusing to answer any of our reporters' questions..."  
  
Taka sat down next to Miaka, slurping a cup ramen.  
  
"... Witnesses also say he was wearing strange clothing, resembling something out of ancient China..."  
  
Taka choked on his ramen.  
  
"There! How's that?"  
  
Nuriko looked at himself in a mirror... personally, he didn't like it at all. He thought he looked like an idiot. He wore long pants of a rough gray material, and a loose cotton shirt. On his feet were something thin and white, and above it strange black shoes that tied with some sort of lace. "I think I look like an idiot," he said.  
  
Kazuko frowned. "Well, this is what normal guys from around here look like. At least this way people won't recognize you! Now you can look for whoever you're looking for."  
  
Nuriko sighed. Yeah... but where to start? He had no idea how big this world was, and if Miaka was anywhere nearby.  
  
"You know... you must be pretty hungry. There's a great little cafe a short ways from here... wanna go?"  
  
He looked up, and, to his shock, she was blushing. She wasn't really his type, but he had to admit there was something kind of charming about her. He grudgingly agreed, even though he had seen some of the food they ate here, and it didn't look pleasant. But he had to do something, so he went with her.  
  
They left the house and began to walk down the street. Nuriko stopped... in front of him flashed large machines that flew down the road, with lights and sounds like he had never heard before. Kazuko stopped and laughed.  
  
"Silly, they're just cars! You act like you've never seen a car before. Don't they have cars where you live?"  
  
He turned to her, eyes wide.  
  
"I guess not... where are you from, anyway?"  
  
He giggled nervously. "Where to start..."  
  
"Here's your order," the waitress served a couple, smiled, and went to another table. She only barely noticed out of the corner of her eye when another couple walked in and sat down, the boy looking around him in amazement at everything. She ran her fingers through her shoulder-length blonde hair and approached them.  
  
"Hello, how may I help you?"  
  
"Hi Hongo senpai!"  
  
Yui looked at the girl. "Oh, hi Kazuko-chan! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I didn't know you had a boyfriend. Introduce him, please!"  
  
She blushed. "Well, he's not really..."  
  
Yui laughed. "Oh, I got it! Not yet, eh? Well keep on trying! So, what would you two like to eat?"  
  
The boy frowned, holding the menu in his hand, and Yui sweatdropped. "Um... you're holding the menu upside down..."  
  
He blushed, laughed, and turned it. "Now it's sideways."  
  
"He's not from around here," Kazuko quickly explained. "I don't think he knows how to read Japanese. Right?"  
  
Nuriko looked up. This was awful. He just wanted to find Miaka, that was all. And now he was tangled up in all this, with these people he didn't know, who knew nothing about him or where he was from. He stood up, and the two looked at him in shock.   
  
"Listen, I'm sorry, I can't stay. I came here to look for someone, and I have to find her. Thank you for your hospitality and all, Kazuko, but I really need to find Miaka." He turned and ran out of the door, as they both watched him go.  
  
"Miaka...?" Yui whispered. Her eyes widened and she ran out the door after him. "Wait!" She searched frantically, but the mysterious boy had disappeared.  
  
"And he said he was looking for me?" Miaka asked. She had the phone cradled on her ear while she attempted to clean up the mess Taka had made. He had gone to take a shower, and he could hear Miaka's voice faintly from the other room. He wasn't sure who she was talking to, but he guessed it was Yui.  
  
"Yeah, and I got this strange feeling about him, like he was..." Yui stopped. She was standing in a phone booth near the cafe she worked at, still in her uniform. Kazuko paced nervously outside.  
  
"Like he was..."  
  
"Well, not from here, if you know what I mean."  
  
She heard Miaka gasp on the other end. "You mean... he's American?"  
  
Yui practically dropped the phone. "No, you idiot! Like he came from the book!! THE BOOK!"  
  
Kazuko heard Yui yelling "from the book!" and she stopped in her tracks. From the book...? This was getting weirder and weirder. She reminded herself that she had jumped in to save him in the first place, but what could she say? She attracted cute guys. And now she felt like he was her responsibility for some reason.   
  
Miaka was silent for a few moments. Finally Yui heard her voice. "Well, what did he look like?"  
  
Yui closed her eyes and tried to remember him as best she could. "Well, he was kinda short, had short, blueish hair and brown eyes... and I think he had a mole under his left eye."  
  
Again there was a silence. "N-no way..." Miaka stuttered. "Taka!" She called. "We're going out!"  
  
Yui could hear another voice on the other end. "Huh... where?"  
  
"Come on! I'll explain in the car!" Click.  
  
"Miaka! Wait! Miaka!" But it was no use. All she got was a dial tone. "Great..." she hung up the phone, pocketed her card, and leaned against the side of the booth. "So who is he?" She turned and then noticed that Kazuko was gone. "Great. Just great. Now what do I do?"  
  
After turning down endless streets and running through endless crowds, Nuriko found himself completely lost. He punched a nearby wall in his frustration, and when the entire thing collapsed he sidled nervously away. He walked down the deserted street silently, so angry with himself he couldn't take it. He shouldn't have lost his temper, he should have just stayed with that girl. But what was he doing here in the first place? He remembered before he was teleported how he wanted to see Miaka... but surely there was no way to get here anymore?   
  
A cold wind blew in and he started to shiver. What would he do when he found Miaka, anyway? Stay for a few days, then go home? She had her own life now, and, he realized painfully, he had no right to interfere anymore. Maybe she didn't want to see him. Maybe she just wanted to bury the past, and go on with her life.   
  
"I shouldn't stay here," he said to the wind. "I should go back."  
  
He closed his eyes and concentrated all his will on returning, but nothing happened. His bracelets, the only part of his outfit he had refused to remove, jangled in the breeze. He looked at them and his open palms in thought.   
  
"Hey!" Came a voice. He turned to see Kazuko running up to him, panting. "I've been looking all over for you! Why'd you run off like that?"  
  
Nuriko turned away from her. He didn't want to deal with people from this world anymore. He didn't know exactly what he wanted, or even if he wanted to see Miaka anymore. "I..." he felt his voice trembling. "I can't see her."  
  
Kazuko came closer. "Her? You mean Miaka? You mentioned Miaka before. If you're talking about Sukinami-senpai, I know her."  
  
He turned to her in shock. Her face was sincere, and she looked truly concerned. He suddenly got a strange feeling that he couldn't place... no, that couldn't be it. "You... know her?"  
  
"Yeah. She just got married, and she's pregnant. She's pretty popular around school. Why can't you see her? I could find her for you."  
  
He put his face in his hands. He didn't want to see this girl anymore. She could lead him to Miaka, but... "It's a long story."  
  
"Tell me then."  
  
"You wouldn't believe me even if I did."  
  
"Yes I would. I trust you."  
  
They sat down, and Nuriko took a deep breath, and began. He started from the beginning, from when he first met Miaka, and told her about the book, and Suzaku, and everything that had happened after his death. As he continued he realized that she probably would not believe him, being someone from this world. But the entire time she listened intently, nodded, and by the end she was in tears. He finished with his mysterious transportation into this world, and she was silent.  
  
He sighed. "See, its pretty unbelievable, huh?"  
  
She wiped away some tears from her cheek, then looked up at him and smiled. "No... not at all. I believe every word. I saw you appear at the park today. You came in a flash of light, and I knew you had to be from another world or something. I had no idea..."  
  
"Well, anyway, I really don't think its right for me to interfere with Miaka and Taka's life anymore. But I tried to go back, and I can't. I don't know what to do anymore."  
  
"Stay here. You can stay with me."  
  
The words hit him like a ton of lead. He was silent.   
  
"And I don't think what you said about Sukinami-senpai is true. I think she would love to see you. Taka too."  
  
He looked at her face, and as a single tear rolled down her cheek he impulsively caught it with his finger and wiped it away. Then he jerked away his hand and felt his face grow hot. Kazuko just smiled.   
  
Then there was a low rumble and the ground shook. They pulled away from each other and looked around. "Earthquake?!" Kazuko cried. Then the sky flashed like day and a figure appeared behind Kazuko and grabbed her. She shrieked, and Nuriko scrambled to his feet. The light seemed to be sucked into the shadow that stood there, until it was once again night and the shape of a woman can be seen. Kazuko struggled to get herself free, but the woman held tight.  
  
"Who are you?" Nuriko gasped.  
  
"That is of no consequence to you!" The woman smirked. "I was waiting for one with as strong emotions as you to break the seal between the two worlds so that I could get through, and now you have even provided me with what I need. Once I take her back and sacrifice her, the seal will open wide enough for me to shape both worlds as a please!!"  
  
"As if I'll let you do that!" He lunged toward her, and as he clenced his fists his bracelets expanded and a red light could be seen shining through his shirt. The woman just smiled, and in another blast of light her and Kazuko disappeared, and Nuriko was sent flying back into a wall. "Kazuko..." he whispered as his vision grew blurry and then turned to black.   
  
Miaka concentrated on the road out of her window as Taka drove. It was pitch dark and hardly anything could be seen, but she was desperate. When she had learned that Nuriko had somehow made it into this world... she didn't know what to think. A million questions popped in her head at once; why was he here? How did he get here? Was something wrong in the book?  
  
Yui sat in the backseat silent. Miaka had explained who the boy was to her, and she had many similar questions in her head. She was not only worried about the Suzaku Seishi, but about Kazuko as well. The girl had no idea who she was dealing with... not that she thought Nuriko was dangerous, but the possibility of yet another innocent girl being sucked into the book scared her more than anything.  
  
"Oi, Miaka," Taka said suddenly. The three looked in front of them, where they had approached what looked like a dead end. In the headlights could be seen a form lying on the ground. Taka stopped the car just in time to give his impulsive wife solid ground to land on.   
  
"Nuriko!" She cried, running up to the form. He lay sprawled on his back, and blood could be seen trickling from his temple. He wore clothes that she had to admit didn't suit him at all, but she would recognize him anywhere. "Nuriko!"   
  
His eyelids fluttered and then slowly opened. He blinked a couple of times. "Mi... Miaka..." he said weakly.  
  
Tears filled her eyes. "Nuriko... how... oh, I've missed you so much!" She leaned down and hugged him.  
  
"They... the've taken Kazuko...."   
  
"What?" Miaka sat up and looked once again at his face. It looked pale, and though she tried to push it out of her mind it looked horribly similar to another time.  
  
"We'll take you to our apartment. You should rest. It looks like you've been through a lot. Come on, I'll help you to the car."  
  
"No!" He waved away her arm and sat up quicky, then cringed and held his head.   
  
"Nuriko!"  
  
He stood and swayed, steadying himself on the wall next to him which had a violent indent in it. "I... I have to save her..."  
  
"Save who?" Miaka got to her feet as well.   
  
"Kazuko..." Yui whispered in horror. Taka and Yui had gotten out of the car and approached them, and only Yui seemed to have a faint understanding of what was going on. "Hey, you!" She grabbed Nuriko by the shirt. "What did you do with Kazuko? If anything happened to her..."  
  
"Yui!" Miaka cried, grabbing her friend's arm.   
  
"I don't know. Some woman came... she said... she was going to take Kazuko back to the other world... and sacrifice her... I can't go back. I tried. But I have to try again." Miaka put her arms around him as tears flowed down her face and wet his shirt. The wetness seemed to jolt him back into reality, and his head cleared. "Miaka..."  
  
"I'll go," she said through her tears. "I can't stand to see you hurt. I don't want anything to happen to you again..."  
  
"Don't worry. I'll bring her back, I promise." He felt himself being filled with warmth, and he had time to whisper "goodbye" into Miaka's ear before he was once again taken away.  
  
The scenery around him disappeared and then reappeared as the very lakeside spot from which he had been transported before. Only now there was silence, and there was nobody in sight. He looked around apprehensively. "Tasuki? Chichiri? Are you here?"  
  
No answer. Then, a shriek filled the space, and a flock of birds noisily escaped from a tree across the lake. "Kazuko!" He looked both ways for the quickest way around the lake, then shook his head. "Stupid idiots couldn't even hang around to help me. "Oh well." Then he ripped off his shirt and shoes, and dove in the water.   
  
At the other shore he sprinted out and began running through the trees in one swift movement. He ran for five minutes before the trees broke and he found himself standing before a building. It was not tall, but its design and decoration gave one the impression that it reached the sky. It was small, but by no means modest. It caught him off guard and he stood for a few moments staring at it. Then it registered in his mind that this was where Kazuko was being held, and that he had no time to waste. He ran up the steps and through the gate-like door, which was wide open.  
  
Once he was inside he stopped. He was in what looked like a shrine, though it was hard to tell. It was all empty space with polished, bright wooden floors lit from the high windows that let in sunlight. Front and center there was a large altar covered in lit candles and overflowing with flowers of all colors and kinds. It was shaped like a large bowl with one gold beam coming out of it and ending just short of the low ceiling. Tied to the beam was an unconscious form.  
  
"Kazuko!"  
  
He rushed toward the altar, and just then he heard a clank behind him as the doors shut. The room turned dark with the disappearance of the sunlight, but the candles burned on, unaffected by the wind. Kazuko's pale face twisted into an evil grin, and her eyes flew open. She tore her bindings and flew from her spot, revealing a dagger and throwing it with impeccable aim. It hit Nuriko in the shoulder, and he stumbled back. He was blinded with pain, and everything began to swim before his eyes.  
  
"Kazuko's dead!" She declared triumphantly, in the same voice that he had first heard that day... the same voice, yet coarse and painful.   
  
"Who are you? What have you done with her?"  
  
"I'm... here..."  
  
The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, and he searched around him but saw nothing. Then between him and the fake Kazuko the air became thick and bright, and she appeared. Her clothes were tattered and torn, and she had scratches and bruises all over her. As soon as her body had materialized completely she fell to her knees. The girl behind her screamed and stepped back. Nuriko rushed to her side and knelt down.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I'm fine. But that girl..."  
  
He looked up. The girl who had stolen Kazuko's form seemed to be melting, now a mixture of Kazuko and herself. "You..." she panted. "How did you..."  
  
"I'm not gonna let you steal me that easily!"  
  
Nuriko stared at her in shock. She fought... all by herself? He smiled. He had known from the beginning that Kazuko was strong, but now he saw her in a whole new light. At the same time he felt a pain in his chest. Had she not needed him after all?  
  
"Fine!" The scream jolted him out of his thoughts. "Then I'll just have to kill you both!" She disappeared, and the room became even darker than it had before. A creaking noise came from the direction of the large shrine, and he grabbed Kazuko and jumped, just barely missing the shrine crashing down through the floor. Flames flared up from all sides of it from the candles that had been burning on it, and the room began to burn. He took her hand and they rushed toward the door. He pulled on the handle to find that it wouldn't budge.   
  
His bracelets expanded and he pulled with all his might. The fire came closer and closer and he began to sweat and feel the pain in his shoulder even more than before. He was shaking all over.   
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice right behind him. "It's okay," she said soothingly. She put her arms around his to stop the shaking. She placed her chin on his shoulder and he could feel a different kind of warmth flowing through him. He took a deep breath and pulled with all his strength. The doors swung open, and they were flung back toward the fire. He turned and put his arms around her so that she wouldn't get hurt. But they landed a few feet short of the fire, and she quickly took his hand and they ran out.  
  
They ran until they reached the lake, neither of them saying anything or looking back. They both sat and caught their breath, then finally turned to each other. "Kazuko..." he said.   
  
She smiled. "Thank you."  
  
He could feel his face grow hot. "What did you think I wouldn't come to save you?"  
  
"No! It's just..." she laughed. "Nothing." She stood, and as she did, the familiar red light wrapped around her. He felt panic rise in his throat.   
  
"Kazuko!" He stood and rushed toward her, grabbing her hand. "Are you leaving already?"  
  
"I have to go back. Why... why aren't you coming? Don't you want to see Miaka?"  
  
He shook his head. "I saw her... I saw how happy she is, and I know that she will be alright now. I think that really that was all I really wanted. And now I have another person who is important to me. Thank you."  
  
Thank you. Those last words echoed in Kazuko's mind as she found herself on a dark Tokyo street. "Kazuko!" Three figures came running toward her in the night, and as the first, Yui, reached her, she was caught in a tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're alright."  
  
"Hongo senpai. Sorry I made everyone worry."  
  
"Come on," Taka said. "I'll drive you home."  
  
Nuriko watched the last flames as they desperately licked at already charred pieces of wood. The building was ruined, and the clearing was silent. He heard the sound of footsteps, and turned to see Chichiri and Tasuki enter the clearing and run toward him.  
  
"Nuriko! Daijoubu nanoda!" Chichiri called.   
  
"As soon as you disappeared we went to get help from Hotohori. We've been searching all over for you! Geez, running off like that?! Ya alright?"  
  
Nuriko stared up at the sky and smiled. "Yeah. I'm just fine." 


End file.
